News Talk 94.1/AM 1600 Where The Upper Cumberland Talks
A new equipment services agreement projected to save Cookeville Regional more than $10 million over the next five years.
CRMC has signed an agreement with SPBS to manage the lifespan of its equipment, including repairs and replacements. Cookeville Regional’s Melinda Poston said the medical center currently spends about $6 million annually on service and maintenance contracts.
“We’ve not had a way historically to benchmark the price points for those service agreements,” Poston said. “That’s no one’s fault. It’s just something that we’ve not been able to do. It’s just been a matter of taking a vendor’s or an OEM recommendation for we might need a full-service agreement for this piece of equipment. And here’s what you need to pay to get that.”
Poston said that vendors can also lead managers astray by suggesting parts are no longer available for a certain piece of equipment or the equipment is dying. SPBS will maintain all of the equipment and create an inventory that details the equipment lifespan.
“They’re going to reduce what we’re paying because they have the benchmark availability that we currently don’t have,” Poston said. “They also know all the rocks to turn over and where to find when a vendor tells us there’s no longer parts going to be available for this piece of equipment. This company can find the parts.”
In turn, Poston said capital budgets can be more accurate going forward with fewer surprise repairs or replacements needed.
“On average, they extend the life of every piece of equipment by five years,” Poston said.
Poston said the company promises a 25 percent savings in the first year, but they believe Cookeville Regional’s savings could be up to 35 percent.
“They have tons of hospitals that they work with, so they’re going to have a lot of data that we can make the best decisions whether or not we need a new piece of equipment or not,” Poston said.
